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The Ligurian village destroyed in the 1887 earthquake … and now!

(En français à la fin de la page …)

Dear Friends,

The tragedy of recent earthquakes in Italy got me thinking about one of my favourite villages in Liguria. Bussana Vecchia is a 9th century Ligurian hill village, not far from San Remo. it’s always on the list of places to visit when friends come to stay. Many people have never heard of it, for one simple reason. Indeed it wasn’t even shown on a map until relatively recently, because the village was destroyed in the massive earthquake of February 23rd, 1887. 2000 people were killed in the region and those who weren’t killed in Bussana Vecchia, moved into the valley below and so the the village just sat there for decades in all its wrecked glory. Ancient cobbles, tumbled houses, the church with no roof, frescoes open to the sky and the birds.

As an aside, I was fascinated to read that this earthquake was the first recorded by a true seismograph, built by Filippo Cecchi in Moncalieri, Italy.

The village was abandoned for 60 years until 1947 when it was re-populated with migrant workers squatting from Southern Italy. After a few forced evictions by the Italian Police in the 1950s the authorities ordered the destruction of all first floor stairways and rooftops and so the migrants moved out.

…no roof and frescoes open to the sky and the birds.

The Pipes of Pan will serenade you …

Despite this, in the early 1960s a Sicilian painter along with a group of hippie international artists decided to move to Bussana Vecchia. With their bare hands and without water or electricity, they cleared the rubble and gradually restored some of the houses. Later they installed a sewage system. They had no outside help. They respected the medieval characteristics of the buildings, using bricks and stones reclaimed from the rubble and took great care to leave the facades of the houses as they had been when their original inhabitants abandoned them. Visiting Bussana Vecchia is truly taking a walk back in time.

About 20 years ago, on one of my first visits, a German artist, one of the original group who moved to Bussana Vecchia in the 60s told me that in the beginning, after they’d managed to bring one line of electricity to the village, they used to gather each night in the only house with light. Here they worked on their creations together.

Tensions with the inhabitants and the police grew over the years, until on July 25, 1968 an eviction was ordered again and the police sent to the village to enforce it. When they arrived, they were faced with the artists behind their barricades refusing to leave and by a large group of international news reporters. The police decided to avoid confrontation.

There’s plenty of places to hang the washing …

You may bump into a fat bird …

And so the International Artists Village was born. The local authorities told the artists they could become owners of their new homes, but it was never put into writing and that promise has never been fulfilled. The artists have spent a great deal of time and money renovating Bussana Vecchia, on the understanding that the Italian government would accept them as the owners of the properties they had restored, but the government consider them squatters and wanted to list the town as a historic monument. Houses have exchanged hands – been sold – but without any legal documents. Many of the new inhabitants believe that the authorities are scamming them – the government originally wanted to bulldoze the village, saying it was unsafe, but now that property prices in the area have increased (and they have rocketed!) they hope to profit by selling the houses. Some of the court cases in Rome have gone on for nearly twenty years creating a very uncertain life for many people.

Artists wait patiently for tourists to arrive …

You may see ‘Alice’ disappearing down a rabbit hole …

Perhaps ‘Alice’ lives down here …

Imagine the people who walked on these cobbles in the 9th century …

Some dogs stalk insects …

Others wait patiently for their owners to let them in …

Puppies sleep on the ancient cobblestones …

Welcome!

Mail is delivered to boxes set in a wall at the entrance to the village

Meanwhile, if you visit the village, there are restaurants, many artists’ ateliers of course – the villagers need visitors to keep going. AND DON’T WEAR HIGH HEELS!

Tom, thanks for your comment. So pleased you enjoyed the story of Bussana Vecchia.

Petrea Burchard February 6, 2017

What a beautiful place, a dream life for an artist. If the government wants what’s best for the economy, I think they should leave the artists there. That, and not expensive private property, is what makes it so inviting for tourists.

It looks wonderful, can’t imagine why authorities always only think of money and can’t see the beauty of things. Those artists have done a great job in restoring the old village and hope they can stay there to live their artistic lives.

Bob, So glad you like this. It’s such a beautiful place with so much history. Thankyou!

Debby Woods January 12, 2018

Enjoyed your article… and I love the Italian region of Liguria.

About Me

I'm Jilly,

More than anything I love to photograph people. Every face tells a story, a moment captured on a camera tells a story. And that's always my aim - to tell a story, to share a feeling, an emotion. I love to photograph life as I see it around me here in the south of France, where I've lived for over twenty years.

And if there's a dog in the photo, so much the better! I'm currently working on a photography book featuring dogs of France and Italy. Luckily, I speak fluent 'dog' - my favourite language.